NILMDTS: Infant Remembrance Photography

NILMDTS: Infant Remembrance Photography

As many of you know I am a part of a wonderful organization that takes remembrance photos for many parents that have just suffered a loss of a baby. Below is a press release about what we do and how one of our affiliate photographers was able to help the amazing Duggar family….

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep serves the Duggar Family of the show
“19 Kids and Counting”

Deborah Billingsley, a volunteer affiliated photographer of the nonprofit agency, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) received a call last Friday to serve a family. It was a couple that had lost their baby. As a volunteer and professional photographer, Deborah frequently receives such calls. This particular call happened to be from the Duggar family of the TLC show.

The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep mission is to introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with the free gift of professional portraiture. Thousands of families from many different backgrounds and faiths have received services as a way to capture these precious images of their baby. Many families are unprepared for the loss they will suffer. Sometimes having only moments with their child, these images provide tangible proof that their child was real. For many, this is an important part of their healing process. NILMDTS has a network of 7,000 photographers worldwide.

Recently, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the parents in the show, announced they were pregnant with their 20th child. Last week, they learned the baby’s heart stopped beating. The Duggars reached out to NILMDTS for the nonprofit’s service.

“Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep offers our deepest condolences to the Duggar family. No one should have to suffer the loss of a baby. We hope these images will help bring comfort to the family as they heal,” said Gina Harris, executive director of NILMDTS.

Deborah took the call just like she would from any family. The Duggars kept Deborah on call for the delivery of their baby. Their baby was born Sunday where they learned she was a girl and named her Jubilee Shalom.

Deborah served as a registered nurse for 12 years, and has been a photographer for 20 years. When she heard of NILMDTS, she knew this was a perfect organization to give her time and talents. She served the family not only as a NILMDTS photographer, but also as a friend. Because of Deborah’s professionalism and compassion in serving the family, the Duggars invited her to be the only still photographer at the private memorial service. NILMDTS and Deborah have not released any images to the public.

“Words can’t describe what I’ve experienced these past few days with the Duggar family. I feel honored and blessed to have been in the family’s company. They are the most real, down-to-earth, loving people I have ever met,” said photographer Deborah Billingsley. “If every person on earth could spend just 10 minutes with this family, the world would be a better place.”

“NILMDTS is grateful for Deborah who worked many hours to deliver our service to the Duggar family,” said Sandy Puc’, co-founder and president. “She has been extremely professional in the delivery of our services which I know will bring comfort to the family.”

NILMDTS offers professional photography services to families who have suffered the loss of an infant. NILMDTS members are professional photographers who graciously donate their time and service. The family is provided with a collection of professionally retouched images at no expense. The family is welcome to display the images however they want to memorialize their baby.

NILMDTS was founded in 2005 by Sandy Puc’, a professional photographer, and Cheryl Haggard, a mother who lost her son Maddux shortly after he was born.